Sea Sabres Scuba Diving club, Southern
California, Fullerton
Sea
Sabres
Dive
Spots
San
Miguel Island
Peace Be With Us
May
23,1999 to San Miguel, and beyond.
By Hansi Eckert
I
have to confess, I arrived in Ventura on Saturday night rather prejudiced. I
was looking forward to seeing old diving buddies, including our boys in blue
from Vegas, I was looking forward to a nice evening dinner overlooking the
always romantic harbor scene, I was looking forward to being in the hands of
skipper Eric Bowman and his crew (Fidel, Bob, Brian), I was looking forward to
lots of good grub from the counter of galley master Richard (which eventually
included three seconds of desert ice cream, complete with no less than seven
different toppings), I was looking forward to big double bunks, with lights and
curtains, thank you, I was looking forward to a great dive platform, excellent
swim steps, fills to 3500 PSI for my 120HP tank, three hot showers and an
overall great feeling of having gotten away to a mini vacation with my wife
with and among friends.
But
first, you gotta get there: this was my fifth trip to Ventura since October (4
on the Peace), and I have managed to get to the boat each time on a different
route—never quite intentionally so. The first time, relying on my memory of
years past, I ended up in Port Hueneme, Channel Islands Harbor, and made it to
the boat after having extensively toured the Southern California coast line.
The second time, I…you get the picture, my memory and navigation skills are
just as good above water as they are using a compass in 5 feet vis below. No
matter, just get there, and we did. Settling in, signing in, hi Marc, you
brought your son? And the other six lively little darlings are from the Sea
Sons farm team? Yes, we had a split charter with the Sea Sons, the elegant,
sensitive and polite little group from Fontana. They are our favorite bunch
now, because despite of their shy and reserved nature, they are all excellent
hunter-gatherers, the rest is just added bonus. Marsha and I sacked out after
sushi dinner. The boat left at midnight and ran so very smoothly throughout the
night that one could easily think of L.A. breakwater, and quiet, that boat is,
too.
6:30
Up, up!! Breakfast counter is waiting, with cereal (hot & cold), breads,
sweet rolls, juices…the real breakfast is served after the first dive. Our
empty tanks are now full. Torn gray sky, lead colored water to a lead horizon,
primal rocks awash in whitewater: we made it to Richardson’s Rock, as far west
as you can get beyond San Miguel. We’re hooked in deep water and warned to stay
away from the rocks. Each dive was preceded by a professional, very helpful and
to the point briefing. We went down the anchor line to about 100 to view the
magnificent sea anemones and many large rock fish. Half the group had gone had
gone to a different rock and hauled back loads of good size scallops, and half
a dozen red vermilion came back, also. After a full hot breakfast we made our
second dive closer to San Miguel, in the foul area. Another deep dive with lots
of surface surge but great scenery a good visibility below. The water is fairly
cold throughout the day, low 50s, but the seas stay calm and the sky turns
blue. Besides, who cares about the cold when you can pour buckets of hot water
from the tub down your suit, and after the last dive soak in jacuzzi heaven?
The third dive was at Cathedral Rock where gangs of huge sheephead loitered.
The second one I speared, dare I admit it?, in the 20 lb. plus range, ripped my
5 foot polespear out of my hand and disappeared in a very deep hole, never to
be seen again. This kind of presence of mind (or lack thereof) was only
surpassed by Ron the Prangster, who unloaded his car in a blue
don’t-put-your-car-here spot and managed to leave it there for the weekend.
(After spending hours on contingency plans, e.g., who goes home with whom,
where do they tow you to, etc., the club assembly surged to the scene of the crime
to see the vehicle unmolested, not even a lousy ticket. So much for the
security force.
On
the last dive, Ron was trusting enough to offer his Riedel to me, and I
accepted, brought it in back, with a 34” lingcod. No flatties were taken or
seen, unless you count the dozens of one inchers that flopped along the sand at
Cyler’s Harbor. My new bio fins (the expensive things with the split in the
middle) worked fabulously for me, so I will keep them. The fact that we had a
full boat never crowded us, and tanks were always ready. What a great day! A
group of us ended the day at the Italian restaurant, taking in more harbor
atmosphere. With lovely Marsha and myself were Jeff (with his new 20/40 vision
and a new dry suit), Linda (with all of her cordial charm), Peter (with a new
video housing), Bruce Funk (designated translator for La Paz), Walt (new
housing, new camera—awesome crisp images from near and far), Jim Phillip, Pat
Breen, Kim Stanley, Marc McNett & son, all from Las Vegas (we wish Mike all
the Best for his upcoming surgery—get well for October!!), Danny Wu & Tom
Liu (we need to get to know you better—you look like friends we’d like to
have), and Ron Prange, who is probably going to pay a bit more attention to
parking next time in sunny Ventura. Hip-hip-hooray for the Peace!
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